Andrea Pirlo tells England ‘we know how to beat you’

Italy midfielder Andrea Pirlo has warned England that his side plan to rotate their midfield after learning of their plan to mark him out of the game, according to the Daily Mirror.

Pirlo also warned that his side know exactly how to beat England and will have a few surprises in store when the two sides meet in Manaus on Saturday night.

Juventus veteran Pirlo, 35, worked alongside Daniele De Rossi and Marco Verratti in training as they look to rotate in midfield and call England’s bluff.

Pirlo said: “We tried this new solution with a midfielder in front of the defence and two directors further forward with more freedom.

“We like this option, it can give great results and we are working to improve every day.

“In truth it’s a system that involves rotation, as we go forward and at other times I’d come back into the more classic position.

“We aim to rotate the midfield positions to keep our opponents guessing. Any system is good as long as we play well.

“We can try many different approaches, but it is also down to how you interpret the role. Anyone who can play football can play with any other player, so there’s absolutely no problem of compatibility with Verratti.

“We know England are a great team who have improved a lot with new, young players coming in. They have good runners, but we know how to face them and have been studying England over the last few days.

“Italy have always had great games against England, as we have a different approach to the sport, so we’ll give our all in our own style.”